The Alexandrium tamarense species complex is one of the most studied marine dinoflagellate groups due to its ecological, toxicological and economic importance. Several members of this complex produce saxitoxin and its congeners – potent neurotoxins that cause paralytic shellfish poisoning. Isolates from this complex are assigned to A. tamarense, A. fundyense, or A. catenella based on two main morphological characters: the ability to form chains and the presence/absence of a ventral pore between Plates 1′ and 4′. However, studies have shown that these characters are not consistent and/or distinctive. Further, phylogenies based on multiple regions in the rDNA operon indicate that the sequences from morphologically indistinguishable isolates partition into five clades. These clades were initially named based on their presumed geographic distribution, but recently were renamed as Groups I–V following the discovery of sympatry among some groups. In this study we present data on morphology, ITS/5.8S genetic distances, ITS2 compensatory base changes, mating incompatibilities, toxicity, the sxtA toxin synthesis gene, and rDNA phylogenies. All results were consistent with each group representing a distinct cryptic species. Accordingly, the groups were assigned species names as follows: Group I, A. fundyense; Group II, A. mediterraneum; Group III, A. tamarense; Group IV, A. pacificum; Group V, A. australiense.

Recently, several investigators have reported large-bowel diarrhea in cats associated with intestinal trichomonad parasites. These reports have presumptively identified the flagellates as Pentatrichomonas hominis, a n organism putatively capable of infecting the intestinal tracts of a number of mammalian hosts, including cats, dogs, and man. The purpose of the present study was to determine the identity of this recently recognized flagellate by means of rRNA gene sequence analysis; restriction enzyme digest mapping; and light, transmission, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM).

The pathogenic oomycete Aphanomyces invadans is the primary etiological agent in ulcerative mycosis, an ulcerative skin disease caused by a fungus-like agent of wild and cultured fish. We developed sensitive PCR and fluorescent peptide nucleic acid in situ hybridization (FISH) assays to detect A. invadans. Laboratory-challenged killifish (Fundulus heteroclitus) were first tested to optimize and validate the assays. Skin ulcers of Atlantic menhaden (Brevoortia tyrannus) from populations found in the Pamlico and Neuse River estuaries in North Carolina were then surveyed. Results from both assays indicated that all of the lesioned menhaden (n ‫؍‬ 50) collected in September 2004 were positive for A. invadans. Neither the FISH assay nor the PCR assay cross-reacted with other closely related oomycetes. These results provided strong evidence that A. invadans is the primary oomycete pathogen in ulcerative mycosis and demonstrated the utility of the assays. The FISH assay is the first molecular assay to provide unambiguous visual confirmation that hyphae in the ulcerated lesions were exclusively A. invadans.